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Letter: White House ignorance and obscenities

'I object to this obscenity in the White House and this degrading of our nation to the world'

Just when I think I can no longer be shocked and angered by President Donald Trump, he lands another intolerable whammy, proving his un-fitness to lead or represent our country.

Not only am I appalled by the crude and disgusting language emanating in our halls of power, but by the racially charged profanity that is totally counter to American values. This is not the way I want to be represented to the world. In those sacred halls, any patriot should expect a certain decorum, dignity and moral integrity.

Haiti may survive under deplorable conditions, but the people are an indomitable, highly intelligent and proud people. I know because I worked there for over four years. I lived and built a hospital in Carrefour, one of the ghettos of Port-au-Prince. I found the people to be loyal, hard-working, dedicated, full of compassion, fun-loving and optimistic. I also found that color, music and dance filled in the chinks of what they didn't have.

Just because your roots are in abject poverty does not mean you are not human with dreams and ambitions. Look at Mother Theresa, from another impoverished country, whose hand I was privileged to shake while in Haiti. Her compassion and good works for the indigent are known worldwide. You cannot characterize a person by the earth she/he came from, and this applies to any country.

The thing that has plagued Haiti is the enormous chasm between the haves and have-nots. If anyone doubts this reality, I invite them to spend a day in Pétion-ville, where the wealthy elite reside, and then a day in the squalor of the Cite Soleil ghetto, only a short jaunt down the hill into the capitol.

This is the ultimate conclusion when the wealthy and powerful are in control and it is counter to democratic ideals. In this regard, let's change sets and turn the spotlight on ourselves, because it is relevant to us as well.

Recently in our own country, our president has given even more latitude to the already wealthy and powerful fossil fuel industry. Aside from the fact that we should have a moratorium on carbon-producing energy, he has opened up all our nation's coastlines to the possible devastation of off-shore drilling. Just imagine Oregon's fantastic and pristine coast devastated by an oil spill.

Our president and these industry giants don't care about people, country or the Oregon way of life. Their only priority is profit and greed. And even more obscene, Florida has been exempted for political reasons. Trump is destroying our country and leading us down the oligarchy pathway like his buddy, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

We, the people, must resist.

It is militarily dangerous to demean democracy. How can our allies defend such racist rhetoric spewing from our "leader"? This does not represent our national position or characterize the founding principles we hold dear. It calls into question, again, Trump's mental capacity. And he is reveling in it, like it is a huge joke. We need stability in the White House, not a Clown-in-Chief totally divorced from the profundity of his position. Can our national pride be dragged any lower?